ABSTRACT
Having sprouted from the rich measurement environment of statistical process control, the early manifestations of Hoshin Planning featured measurement and analysis of critical business results prominently at the opening of the planning cycle. If the Hoshin is a bona fide breakthrough, it’s likely to involve the application of designs and processes that are unprecedented for the organization. As a result, the organization’s ability to measure performance may be limited at first. Hoshin Planning aficionados sometimes take some teasing for being overly fond of fancy matrices, but some way of showing how all the measureable goals and activities of the organization are related is essential. Senior leaders need a visual that shows how their business, Hoshin, and operational goals impact and support each other. Metrics that are influenced by the actual performance of processes were identified as control items by early Hoshin scholars, such as Kaoru Ishikawa.
